Feb 7, 2012

Play SF: the sci-fi gaming magazine

Richie Shoemaker, an excellent writer who has enlightened and entertained us via the pages of such prestigious gaming magazines as PC Zone, Retro Gamer and C&VG, is preparing something new and special that is none other than the forthcoming Play SF mag. A computer and video gaming magazine that has decided to cover the futuristic and at times dystopian world of space and science-fiction gaming.

Play SF will be a bi-monthly, digital-only publication that, Richie Shoemaker aside, will also feature the eclectic talents of Jamie Malcom, Paul Presley, Emma Boyes, Brian Rubin, Harry Slater and Adam Tingle. The first issue seems to be very close to being released and it will be something I will definitely be grabbing and happily reading.

Play SF, you see, has already pushed all the right buttons. It will be PC focused (but not PC only), it will cover both new and old games, it already looks fantastic, it has wisely decided to cover all the varied and exquisite types of sci-fi, it will not ignore indie game releases and, above all, it will not provide with review scores! If that doesn't look like a quality magazine worth its ultra-low asking price, well, I really don't know what to say. Or do I?

Oh, I do; I'll also let you know that Play SF is being published with the help of Zinio; the Steam of of the magazine world apparently, meaning that you can expect to be able to handily sample, buy and read your magazine on a variety of platforms. What's more, the first issue will cover a rather lovely selection of games including X-Wing, X3, The Old Republic, Transarctica (!), XCOM and even Wing Commander Saga: The Darkest Dawn. Here is the magazine's site (in case you missed the previous link you absentminded reader, you) and here are a couple lovely page samples from issue #1 to further excite you: